Most gardens benefit from having a lilac shrub because it adds color and smell early in the growing season. It requires little maintenance, adapts to its environment—whether it’s sunny or shady, moist or dry—and gives pollinators nectar in the early growing season. However, if you want a bush that continues to bloom beautifully and look nice after 5 or 6 years, it needs some care. It’s obvious that my aged and neglected lilac bush needs some care.
The common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), which was originally from Asia and was introduced to the United States in the 1700s, looks best in a well-kept cottage garden or as a riotous hedge. It is not a good fit for my native garden.
Each year in the spring, it blooms with lovely, fragrant flowers and lush, green leaves just as I’m about to remove it. Then I suppose I should relocate it to a slightly less wild spot. The choice was aided by some study.
Lilacs may grow anywhere, but a sunny environment produces the greatest blooms. My shrub would thrive in a different location since its present location is quite shady. But neither transferring it nor getting rid of it entirely is a wise idea.
Lilacs have large, difficult-to-move root balls, and any roots that are left behind will produce new plants. The shrub needs to stay where it is unless I want a large excavating project or lilac sprouts all over the yard.
A prettier and healthier bush will result from establishing a yearly maintenance schedule. Since it blooms in the spring, it is preferable to prune this shrub as soon as the flowers have passed away and before the buds for the following year have formed. Trim the shape, remove leaves and branches that are sickly, and deadhead the blooms.
Older stems should periodically be thinned to promote flowering and prevent the blooms from falling too far. Garden Notes No. 619 from the Colorado State University Extension Office contains thorough information on pruning and an excellent image of what not to do.
If the flower bed is expanded with more spring bloomers, a lilac bush might look more lovely. Daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths are excellent companion plants since they are equally adaptable and beautiful in the spring.
By taking generous cuttings while it is in bloom and the air is fragrant, I’ve made peace with my lilac bush and am working to improve its appearance. The bush can be managed with routine pruning, but only after I’ve had a chance to enjoy its flowers both inside and out.
Vicky Barney, a member of the 2011 Master Gardener Class, cultivates gardens for animals.
A lilac bush can be trained.
Lilacs should be trained as trees from the beginning for optimal results. When young plants are quiescent, remove all lower branches and all other stems that are emerging from the soil, leaving only the whip. Between shin and knee height, cutting the whip low fosters the growth of several upright branches.
As the tree matures, a robust lower trunk with numerous strong leaders forms. An appealing tree with an open, rounded shape is produced by removing leaders to encourage them to rebranch and keeping sprouts and lower growth thoroughly removed. A topiary standard tree is produced by raising the whip’s termination point and maintaining a compact top growth.
How can a lilac shrub be improved?
Did you know that the National Gardening Bureau has designated 2022 as the “Year of the Lilac”? They have a sweet, eerie aroma and are among the easiest shrubs for your landscaping to maintain that bloom in the spring. Find out how to plant, nurture, and prune your lilacs.
About Lilacs
Syringa vulgaris, or common lilac, is prized for its tenacity, dependability, and scent. Lilacs are so hardy that they can live for more than 100 years and frequently outlive the houses they were planted near.
This tiny, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub (or tree) has approximately ten canes and blooms at eye level. The height of a common lilac can range from 8 to 12 feet, depending on the cultivar. The aromatic flowers attract butterflies and make good cuttings.
There are lilac types that come in white, cream, and even pink and yellow, though the blooms are typically lilac/purple in hue (ranging from very pale to extremely dark). Flowers can be solitary or double in number.
Lilacs bloom in northern states from mid- to late spring for around two weeks. However, there are lilac varieties for early, mid, and late seasons that, when cultivated together, guarantee a consistent bloom for at least six weeks.
Lilacs do best in soil that is fertile, humus-rich, well-drained, and neutral to alkaline (at a pH near 7.0). Add compost to your soil to improve it if it is in bad condition. (Learn more about adding amendments to the soil and getting it ready for planting.) Lilacs don’t enjoy having their feet wet and won’t blossom if they are kept too moist, so make sure the planting area drains well.
Lilacs should be planted in full sun, which is defined as having at least six hours of sunlight each day, for the finest blooms.
How to Plant Lilacs
- If you’re fortunate, a friend may offer you a sucker, or offshoot, of the plant’s root system. The sucker will first appear pitiful, but all you need to do is dig a hole, fill it with soil, and then insert the sucker. water next, and then wait. You’ll be rewarded with enormous, fragrant blossoms in 4 or 5 years.
- Lilacs purchased from nurseries can also be planted easily. If the plant was cultivated in a container, spread its roots out as you plant it; if it was balled or burlapped, gently remove the covering and any rope before doing so. Set the plant 2 to 3 inches deeper than it was while it was growing in the nursery and cover the roots with topsoil. in water Then add more topsoil to the hole to finish it.
- Depending on the kind, place multiple lilac bushes 5 to 15 feet apart.
- Apply a layer of compost under the plant each spring, followed by a layer of mulch to keep moisture in and weeds under control.
- If the weekly rainfall is less than 1 inch, water during the summer.
- If lilacs receive too much fertilizer, they won’t bloom. In the late winter, they can manage a few 10-10-10, but no more.
- Spread some lime and thoroughly composted manure around the base of your lilac bush once it has finished blooming. Remove suckers while you form the shrub by trimming it.
Pruning Lilacs
- Since lilacs blossom on old wood, it’s important to prune in the spring immediately following their bloom. You risk removing the wood if you prune later in the summer. A word of advice: It’s time to prune if your lilac flower clusters are getting smaller!
- After bloom each year, cut away any dead wood. Remove the oldest canes by pruning (down to the ground). Take out the tiny suckers. Reduce weak branches until a robust shoot remains. Reduce tall canes to eye level.
- Remove one-third of the oldest canes (down to the ground) in year one, half of the remaining old wood in year two, and the remainder in year three if your lilac is very old and in poor condition. Cutting the entire plant back to a height of approximately 6 or 8 inches is another option for elderly lilacs. Although it sounds dramatic, lilacs are remarkably resilient. This option’s drawback is that it takes some time for the hair to grow back. The lilac will grow back bursting with blooms, so there will be less work and more reward.
- It is important to understand that extreme trimming causes bloom loss for one to three years. For these reasons, a smart pruning program gives the bushes yearly attention in an effort to avoid making dramatic and severe cuts.
The Syringa vulgaris kind of lilacs is the most widely grown and fragrant:
- Try the double magneta variety “Charles Joly” for an early bloom.
- Lilacs in the middle of the season include “Monge,” a deep reddish purple, and “Firmament,” a delicate blue.
- Miss Canada, a reddish pink, and Donald Wyman, a solitary purple, are two late-season beauties.
Syringa x hyacinthiflora, an early-flowering lilac cultivar, opens 7 to 19 days before those of the common lilac. Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to its fragrant blossoms.
The cutleaf lilac, a fragrant pale lavender, is one of the common lilacs that may flourish as far south as Zone 9. Common lilacs appreciate cold weather. The beautiful shrub Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ has light lilac-blue flowers that eventually become white.
There are tiny kinds for gardeners who simply don’t have the space for the conventional larger lilacs, particularly those in urban settings. Even in a container on your balcony or patio, they will grow.
- ‘Baby Kim’ has a lovely rounded shape, only grows 2 to 3 feet high (and 3 feet wide), and has purple flowers that draw butterflies. Hardiness from Zones 3 to 8 extended.
- Compact lilac ‘Little Lady’ (Syringa x) has dark pink buds that open to lilac-pink flowers and grows to be 4 to 5 feet tall and wide at maturity. Zones 2 to 7 are tough.
- Syringa vulgaris cultivars “New Age Lavender” and “New Age White” were developed for mildew resistance and are quite compact, growing from 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. Hummingbirds and butterflies are drawn to their fragrant blossoms. Zone 4 hardy.
How should a lilac that is too tall be pruned?
Annual pruning keeps lilacs under check. Cut it back to a pair of side shoots at the proper height if it’s a healthy shoot that’s just too tall. Deadheading. The plant’s energy is directed into new growth when you deadhead faded blossoms.
When should lilac plants be pruned?
All lilacs should generally be clipped right away in the spring after they have finished blooming. Lilacs set their flower buds for the following year immediately after the current year’s flowers have faded, therefore trimming later in the summer or fall will result in the removal of most or all of the blossoms for the following year. The larger common lilacs as well as the shorter or more “shrub like” cultivars are all subject to this timing guideline. While the “when” of lilac trimming is rather simple, the “how” is a little more difficult. For the time being, we’ll refer to lilac pruning as either maintenance pruning or rejuvenation pruning to keep things simple.
Can you make a tree out of a lilac bush?
You require a little tree to serve as the garden’s centerpiece. Instead, pick a shrub and utilize basic pruning methods to turn it from a bush into a lovely tree. You can produce a unique plant that adds a touch of class to your yard when you prune a shrub into a little tree. For this method to work, you don’t even need to be an expert in plants or good with pruners.
The greatest shrubs to grow into trees are those that don’t normally produce a lot of suckers from the roots (suckers). Numerous varieties of shrubs, from floral beauties to shrubs with fall color, are included in this group. Lilac, flowering quince, panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), and spring-blooming star magnolia are some examples of flowering shrubs that can grow into trees (Magnolia stellata).
Many berried bushes grow into lovely little trees that provide the garden winter appeal. Pyracantha, Siebold viburnum (Viburnum sieboldii), and sea buckthorn are members of this group (Hippophae rhamnoides). Another excellent shrub to grow into a small tree is cotoneaster. Choose upright cotoneaster cultivars like Cotoneaster divaricatus or Peking cotoneaster (Cotoneaster ludicus) for the best results.
Sucker-producing shrubs are the most challenging to grow into trees. These suckers typically grow in small thickets when left to their own devices. Elderberry, chokecherry, and red twig dogwood are shrubs that can produce thickets. These shrubs can be trained to grow into tiny trees; however, it could require a bit more work.
Pruning suckering shrubs into multi-stemmed trees, where you choose a number of upright stems to act as trunks, is an option. For a beautiful multi-stemmed little tree, try the bottlebrush poinciana or pineapple guava in warmer climates. Consider witch hazel, serviceberry, or imitation orange in regions with chilly winters.
Smaller plants are simpler to teach when selecting shrubs to grow into trees. Gardening isn’t just about growing bushes into trees right away. It takes years to complete the process. Start with a plant that is around a year old if you wish to train your shrub into a tiny tree with a single trunk. One to two gallons may be used for a container. When grown as a multi-trunked tree, more mature shrubs produce better results.
Prior to planting, decide which stem will serve as the tree’s trunk. Remove branches from the shrub’s bottom third after planting. Place a sturdy stake next to the main stem, such as a tree stake or a chunk of rebar. On a tree with multiple stems, place a stake for each one. Fix the stem to the base with a tie. Rub out or trim any little sprouts that develop along the trunk as the shrub grows.
Remove lower branches each spring so that the trunk makes up one-third of the tree’s height. Till the tree reaches the desired height, repeat this technique every spring. Then, reduce the canopy to three to five major branches, then prune those branches back by three to five inches to promote branching. Thin the canopy as necessary and cut off any branches that sprout along the trunk to maintain your shrub-tree.
How can a lilac shrub be kept in check?
One of the joys of spring is the luscious aroma of lilacs. The lilac bush, which blooms in late April or early May with clusters of tiny purple flowers resembling bunches of grapes, is a common sight in most communities.
These are primarily common lilac shrubs (Syringa vulgaris). Kris Bachtell, vice president of collections at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, described it as “grandma’s lilac.” It is widely known.
He said that there are hundreds of cultivated types. Although there are cultivars with magenta, pink, and white blooms as well, the majority bloom in hues of purple. They are all resilient and enduring.
Despite being widely cultivated, common lilac is difficult for some gardeners to grow. Even if some newer types are more resistant to powdery mildew, older ones are frequently deformed by it in the late summer.
The plants, which are native to rocky Balkan hillside soil, require full light and well-drained soil. An older lilac’s blooming cycle may end if nearby trees have grown to shade it.
Lilacs require frequent renewal trimming to reduce their size and thin them out. According to Bachtell, this necessitates the yearly removal of certain elder stems as well as dead wood. Lilacs also frequently sprout suckers from their root systems, which may need to be cut back.
The common lilac can simply be too much of a shrub for smaller yards because it is a large shrub or small tree that grows 8 to 20 feet tall and almost as wide.
Fortunately, Bachtell says, there are alternatives. “He said that several other lilac species are somewhat smaller. “They might be more disease- and shade-tolerant than grandma’s.
Meyer lilacs (Syringa meyeri) can reach heights and widths of 6 to 8 feet. Even though it thrives in direct sunlight, it can tolerate some shade. The flower clusters are smaller but very fragrant, and they emerge a little later than those of the common lilac. Autumn causes the leaves to become yellow. Although there are various cultivars, Palibin is the most popular.
One cultivar, Miss Kim, of the Manchurian lilac (Syringa patula), is primarily recognized. On a plant that is 5 to 8 feet tall, it bears delightfully scented light purple blossoms that turn light pink as they age. In the fall, the ruffled leaves become purple-red. Compared to other garden lilacs, the plant is a little more resistant to powdery mildew.
Hybrid lilacs that rebloom in the late summer or early fall do so less profusely than they do in the spring. Bloomerang Purple (Syringa ‘Penda’), Bloomerang Dark Purple (Syringa x ‘SMSJBP7’), and Bloomerang Dwarf Pink (Syringa x ‘SMNJRPI’) are just a few cultivars in the Bloomerang line. They are all smaller than typical lilacs, although cultivar differences in size should be noted on the label.
According to Bachtell, pruning should be done in the first week or two after the spring shrub has stopped flowering if it’s necessary to keep a lilac untangled and at the right size. Pruning in the winter will destroy buds that might otherwise develop fragrant blooms since lilacs bloom from buds that were formed the previous year.